Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wastewater topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Henderson County weighs six options to replace Etowah wastewater plant; advisory panel backs regional hookup
Summary
County engineers and consultants presented six options to replace the Etowah wastewater treatment plant. The advisory committee recommended regionalizing service to Hendersonville (Option 6); the board directed staff to ask the city for a commitment and to prepare a cost estimate for a smaller on-site replacement.
Hendersonville, N.C. — Henderson County commissioners on May 4 reviewed an engineering report that lays out six options to replace the aging Etowah wastewater treatment plant and directed staff to pursue further information from possible regional partners.
WithersRavenel, the contracted engineer, presented a report that included detailed scopes, capital-cost estimates and present-value operating-cost projections for six replacement approaches. The engineering team recommended Option 2 — a full replacement at the existing plant site, County Engineer Marcus Jones said. “The plant had exceeded its useful life prior to Hurricane Helene,” Jones said, warning that “continued delays increase the risk of major system failure.”
Members of the Etowah Sewer Advisory Committee, who reviewed the report before the meeting, unanimously recommended Option 6: construct a regional pump station to send the system’s wastewater to the City of Hendersonville’s system. Commissioner Jay Egolf said residents who attended the advisory meeting appeared to support the committee’s recommendation.
The county currently has $13.2 million in grant funding allocated toward the project, staff told the board. Commissioners discussed trade-offs: a regional hookup could reduce operating complexity but would require agreement from the City of Hendersonville and negotiation of technical and financial terms. Chairman William Lapsley said the county should obtain written approval and conditions from any regional partner before making a final decision.
The board directed staff to provide a copy of the WithersRavenel report to the City of Hendersonville and request whether the city would consider regionalization under Option 6. At Commissioner Rebecca McCall’s request, staff were also asked to prepare an estimate for the cost of Alternative Two if it were sized to meet only current capacity needs rather than anticipated future growth.
Next steps identified by the board include securing a response from the City of Hendersonville, negotiating conditions if the city is interested in regionalization, and returning to the board with a cost estimate for the scaled Option 2 and any additional funding needs.
The board did not select a final option at the meeting; the decision will follow further inquiry with potential regional partners and updated cost details.
